Geburtstagsgrüße » eek. PITTSBURGH -- Since stumbling

When the final penalty kick left the right foot of Brazil forward Neymar on Saturday night, swimmer Yusra Mardini clutched her older sister Sarahs hand. In the moment, Yusra was torn. Since she was a young girl growing up in the Syrian capital of Damascus, she has been a fan of Spanish football club FC Barcelona, which Neymar joined in 2013. She calls him her idol and says he, along with her other idols Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, made her believe she, too, could one day become an Olympian.But tonight, she said, I am cheering for Germany. Germany, now, is my home.One year ago on this day, Mardini, 18, and her sister became heroes to 18 people and symbols of hope to refugees around the world. Since being named to the 2016 Refugee Olympic Team, a first-of-its-kind team comprised of 10 refugees from four nations who competed at the Rio Summer Games under the Olympic flag, Mardinis story has garnered international attention. In Rio, she met swimmers Missy Franklin and Conor Dwyer and was overcome with emotion the first time she dove into the Olympic pool and realized she was swimming in the same water as Phelps.My life has changed completely, said Yusra, who competed in the 100-meter freestyle and 100-meter butterfly. It is incredible.No. It is unbelievable, Sarah corrected. One year ago today, we were in the boat. She looks down at her white iPhone, then picks it up and lights up its display. Yusra, look what time it is: 8:16 p.m. One year ago at this time, we are still in the water.The Mardini sisters story is as improbable and inspiring as any to come out of these Games, yet one that likely would never have been told if not for Yusra being identified as a candidate for the Refugee Team. After the war in Syria destroyed their familys home and the swimming facility where they trained, their parents agreed to allow Yusra and Sarah to flee the war-torn nation with two of their fathers cousins and a friend.They flew to Istanbul, Turkey, took a bus to Izmir with a group of about 30 refugees and smugglers and waited for four days before boarding a dinghy with 18 other refugees, including a 6-year-old boy, bound for the Greek island of Lesvos.On their first attempt at the crossing, they were stopped by border agents and turned around. On their second trip, the engine on their dinghy broke and the boat began to take on water. It was dark, the waters choppy and only the Mardinis and two men on board the boat knew how to swim.In the beginning, Sarah told me, Dont help anyone. Just go. Swim with me. If we drown, we drown, Yusra said. But then she was the first one who got out of the boat to push.For three-and-a-half hours, the sisters swam, fighting the current and the weight of their clothing, pulling and pushing the boat to help it remain on course. The two men also jumped into the water to help and took turns pushing the boat, but they eventually gave up, too exhausted to continue.They couldnt handle as much because they are normal people, Yusra said. We can handle more because we are sports people. At first, no one wanted us to jump in the water because we are girls. When we get in the water, the guys from Somalia were like, My god, you are brave. I was like, Shut up now. Please shut up. Dont tell me Im courageous. When we arrive safely, then say whatever you want.Throughout the swim, the Mardinis said there were times they werent sure theyd made the right choice to leave Syria, when they didnt believe they would make it to Lesvos alive.We missed home, Sarah said. You think, I dont want this trip. You are in the middle of the sea. No one is hearing you and no one is helping you. So you keep going.Around 10 oclock that night, the group arrived on the shores of Lesvos, safe but staring down months of grueling travel on foot and by bus. The Mardinis eventually arrived in a refugee camp in Berlin, where an Egyptian interpreter connected them with a swim coach who agreed to train the girls who had saved a boatload of people. It had been months since that night in the Mediterranean Sea, and the sisters wanted nothing more than to return to the water and to once again train in the sport they loved.In the water that night, I thought it would be a shame if we die in the water and we are swimmers, Yusra said.No, Sarah corrected. That it would be a shame to let the people with us die and we are swimmers. We didnt care about ourselves.For both sisters, swimming has been their passion and competing in the Olympics a childhood dream. Now that Yusra is an Olympian, they say their work has only begun. On Monday, Sarah, who speaks multiple Arabic dialects and English, will return to Greece, where she is volunteering to greet refugees upon their arrival and provide them with food, water and guidance. She has also started her own human rights organization in Berlin, which she named RTR, for Refugee to Refugee.I hurt my shoulder that night in the water, so for months I could not train with my sister, Sarah said. I decided to do something with my mind. Now I am a human rights activist. I want to give something back to others like me and my sister, not just from Syria but from all over the world. We have our papers and our family in Berlin. We have everything, so I want to give back to the others. I will be the wall they will rest on.Yusra, too, wants to help refugees, and she wants to become an activist who fights for the right for girls to participate in sports. She says already, she has received many emails and Twitter messages from women and young girls from around the world who say theyve been inspired by her story, and she makes a point to respond to every message.In Syria, the girl who does sport, she is called a whore by people, Yusra said. This is how closed their minds are in how they think. We fought all the time to swim. But we were lucky. We came from a good family. My mom and dad, they support us. But now we are still fighting and doing our best to rise women up in any way we can.One year ago, it would have been impossible for Yusra and Sarah to imagine their lives today, to believe they would be watching the final football game of the Rio Olympics from white leather chairs at a party thrown by Visa, Yusras Olympic sponsor, at an opulent hotel overlooking Copacabana Beach.One year ago, it was difficult for the Mardini sisters to imagine a future at all. Custom Football Jerseys Online . 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After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week. PITTSBURGH -- Since stumbling to start this lengthy road trip, the Los Angeles Kings have rebounded with consecutive victories, including a win against one of the NHLs hottest teams.Tyler Toffoli scored a minute into overtime, helping the Kings end the Pittsburgh Penguins seven-game winning streak with a 1-0 victory Friday night.Los Angeles is in the midst of a nine-game, 18-day trip that started with a loss Tuesday at Buffalo and ends in two weeks at Edmonton. This game followed a 4-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night.Its great to get two big wins in tough buildings on back-to-back nights, Kings goaltender Peter Budaj said. Were going to rest and get ready because this road trip keeps continuing. We have to be sharp because were going to play in some tough buildings.The Kings have won four straight against the Penguins and three of four overall. Toffoli got his eighth goal, and Budaj stopped 39 shots for his third shutout of the season.Toffoli scored on a 3-on-1, taking a pass from defenseman Alec Martinez before skating to the top of the crease and lifting a wrist shot that beat Penguins goaltender Matt Murray to the glove side. Seconds earlier, Penguins forward Phil Kessel missed the net and his stick broke on an attempted shot off the rush, creating the 3-on-1 that led to the winner.I think we got a fortunate bounce with Kessel breaking his stick, Toffoli said. You need some luck on your side and we got that.Murray made his fifth straight start and had 27 saves for the Penguins. Pittsburgh previously won nine of 11 and six straight at home.Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby ended his season-high -- and NHL-best -- nine-game point streak. Crosby leads the league with 21 goals but failed to score in consecutive games for the first time this season. He has points in 20 of 25 games this year.The Penguins sit atop the Metropolitan Division with 44 points and are tied with Chicago for the NHL lead. Pittsburgh scored at least four goals in each of the previous seven games, but the Kings were able to shut down the second-highest scoring team in the league.They did a good job of packing it in and kept us to the outside for the most part, butt we played really well, Murray said.dddddddddddd It was just one of those nights.Los Angeles has six wins in 15 road games this season, compared to 10 wins in 15 home games. The Kings allowed six goals on the first game of the trip, but they have shut it down since, giving up one goal in back-to-back victories.After our game in Buffalo, we really wanted to tighten it up, Toffoli said. Tonight was an example of that and we got the win.Pittsburgh had a 30-15 advantage in shots heading into the third but couldnt get on the board. The Kings outshot Pittsburgh in the third and had the periods only power play, but still the game went scoreless to OT. It was the fourth time in the last five meetings the teams needed overtime against one another.The Penguins played without top defenseman Kris Letang, who is out a couple weeks with a lower-body injury. The Penguins were down to four defensemen at one point in Fridays game after losing Trevor Daley late in the second period and Brian Dumoulin early in the third. Dumoulin returned, but Daley did not.Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said Daley is being evaluated for an upper-body injury.Letang, who had seven assists in his last seven games, was injured in Pittsburghs win against Boston on Wednesday. The Penguins had been 4-1 in five games without Letang this season and 2-8-1 in 11 games missed last season.Pittsburgh recalled Derrick Pouliot from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to take Letangs spot in the lineup. Pouliot previously played in one game against San Jose earlier this season.Game notes Kings general manager Dean Lombardi said Wednesday that goaltender Jonathan Quick will be out until around mid-February with a groin injury that has sidelined him since October. ... Pittsburgh scratched F Eric Fehr and D Steve Oleksy, while Los Angeles sat F Devin Setoguchi, F Andy Andreoff and D Kevin Gravel. ... Pittsburgh recognized former goaltender Jeff Zatkoff, now on Los Angeles, with a video tribute.UP NEXTKings: Continue their road trip at Boston on Sunday.Penguins: Visit Toronto on Saturday night. ' ' '